Page 34 of Mister Fireman

“What!” we yelled in unison.

“Are they both okay?” I asked.

“Physically, yes, but Edna is shaken up emotionally. She knows Mama wouldn’t try to hurt her in her right mind, but that was jarring for her. I don’t know if she’s going to be able to handle checking in on Mama, and honestly, she doesn’t need to.”

“Did you consider what Enjell said about trying to get the power or attorney reversed?” Malaysia asked. “Because at this point, if Auntie doesn’t want to get her the help she needs, I’m going to make her. There’s no reason Grandma should be at that house alone. We need to be trained properly for how to handle this, but also, she needs professional help. This is going to be a lot for us to handle, Daddy, and the longer we wait, the worse it’s going to get.”

I remained silent because I agreed. I knew something bad was going to happen today, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this.

“I agree. I have an attorney on it. Pamela don’t give a damn about nothing but getting our parents’ money. Now I’m not going to say she’s waiting for my mama to die, but she’s certainly not trying to help improve her quality of life. She got that POA to handle Mama’s finances, but she doesn’t care about anything else.”

That was true. Auntie Pamela was a daddy’s girl, and Daddy was a mama’s boy. I couldn’t believe my aunt would intentionally deny her mother of care, but at this point, that was what it was starting to look like. There had to be a reason for her actions, and until we knew what that reason was, she was looking real suspect.

“What can actually be done if we go against Auntie and make some moves on Grandma’s behalf?” I asked, tired of sitting around and not doing something.

“I would assume what we put in place she can stop. We’re looking into getting it revoked. In the meantime, I’m going to stay with Mama regardless of what Pamela says or thinks. Your mama wanted to come, too, but I told her to stay away until I can gauge how Mama will be acting.”

“Okay, well, if you need anything, let us know,” Malaysia offered, and I agreed.

We said our goodbyes, and before I could decompress from that, I had to put on a happy face at the sight of a woman entering the kitchen. I didn’t know who she was looking for, but I still wanted to be helpful. No one else was able to rent space during my hours; however, I didn’t want her to have a negative experience with me and not want to work with someone else.

“Hey, can I help you?” I asked, walking around the steel island.

Her smile widened as her eyes focused on me. She was pretty, but the closer she got to me, the more my spirit was disturbed by her presence.

“Hey. You’re Injayell right?”

While I cringed at the way the woman butchered my name, Dallas laughed, and Malaysia sucked her teeth.

“It’s pronounced like angel, but yes, that’s me.”

“Oh, okay.” The woman chuckled and pushed her hair off her shoulders. “I was stopping by hoping you had some extra plates for the day.”

“Actually, I don’t,” I said sadly. “Business picked up a lot, and I haven’t been doing daily pickups. If you were interested in meal prep, I could set you up for that.”

“Hmm… I don’t know. I’ll have to see if my man is already getting it. He’s how I found you.”

“Oh yeah?” I perked up, stepping closer to her. “Who?”

“Dejvi.”

Gritting my teeth, my eyes tightened as I processed what the woman said.

“What she just say?” Malay asked.

“I think she said Dejvi, but that can’t be right,” Dallas said.

“She must be talking about someone else,” Malay reasoned.

“Y’all know Dejvi?” she asked.

“We know a Dejvi, but we can’t be talking about your Dejvi,” Malay replied.

“There’s an easy way to settle this,” she said, lifting her phone. “I saw him posting about Injayell’s cooking and—”

“Bitch, you heard my sister tell you her name is pronounced like angel,” Malaysia said, stepping from around the corner.

I grabbed my sister’s wrist to keep her from getting any closer to the woman.

---